The men’s tennis team returned to the tundra of Hamilton a week earlier than their fellow classmates to prepare for their spring season. After a week of practice, Colgate headed to West Point, New York to compete in Army’s Winter Invitational. The Raiders performed well, as nearly every player won at least one singles match.

Senior co-captain Tyler Deck and junior co-captain Martin MacIntyre led the way for the Raiders. In the first flight, MacIntyre picked up wins against Monmouth’s Ben Evendon and St. Joesph’s Jarrett Chirico. Meanwhile, “T-Deck” notched two singles wins in the second flight. He defeated Tom Corrie of Monmouth and Army’s Chris Albornoz in a tight match, 6-4, 2-6, 10-6. The Raiders struggled in the third flight, as sophomore John Nogueras and first-year Phil Bernasek went winless. However, Bernasek won an extremely tight match in the fourth flight, as “Phil the Thrill” defeated Vile Gupta of Monmouth, 7-6, 3-6, 10-8. Seniors Mike Shea and Sam Jacobson both easily defeated their opponents from Monmouth. Sophomore Michael Yassky also won a singles match when he defeated Tim McLane of Monmouth convincingly, 6-2, 6-2.

The Raiders did not fare as well in doubles action as they did in singles, managing only to win two matches. MacIntyre and Deck defeated Ben Everden and Tom Corrie of Monmouth 8-4 in the first flight. The other doubles win came from the tandem of senior Sam Jacobson and first-year Ruslan Goussiantnikov, who defeated Monmouth’s Tim McLane and Miles Vidreiro, 8-3.

The men’s tennis team will hit the road this weekend for their first dual matches of the season against Niagara and Duquesne.